Many powerful personalities such as political pundits, technological
prophets, and religious luminaries have both castigated and complimented
communities in the contemporary United States of America. Their intentions
to change or conserve communities have been both selfless and self-serving.
Still, regarding children, the implementations of their ideas have had substantial
implications. Many policies and ideologies set forth by our society's powerful
people assume that what is good for one community will be good for all others.
In the economic and political fervor to homogenize and categorize individual
communities, many have lost their unique identities and their self governance.
Those communities who have not conformed to or abided by these policies
have been penalized or ostracized by those with paternal or coercive intentions.

Penalties in the political realm often take the form of money and control.
If a local community does not adhere to certain political requirements then
they may lose funding. For example, a recent education proposal by Bill
Owens, governor of the state of Colorado, requires that children's scores
on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) must be above a D or F
grade (Bartels, 2000, p. 10A). If they do not exceed the failing grade after
three years then the school will be taken over by the state and converted
to a charter school. His intentions may be to improve education, however,
the application of Mr. Owens' proposal does not take into account the varying
factors surrounding each community's school such as economic or cultural
priorities. Representatives of political districts do have the opportunity
to modify the proposal before it becomes law, but within a given district
there may be dozens, if not hundreds, of schools and their corresponding
communities. These communities may therefore lose a certain degree of self
determination. Some charter school projects do offer the chance for community
driven support and ideas, but these schools depend on community members
that are not itinerate, apathetic, or self-motivated. In the absence of
strong communities corporate profiteers sell the possibility of absolution.

Bill Joy is the co-founder and chief scientist of Sun Microsystems Inc.,
the leading internet technology manufacturer. Recently, he published an
article which detailed the possible course that this unsupervised and unconscientious
technological development could take (Joy, 2000). He foresees not only the
disassembly of communities by anonymous technology, but also the dehumanizing
of people through robotics and genetic engineering. He claims all of these
innovations are moving ahead unchecked. Mr. Joy actually found himself agreeing
with many of the points raised by Kaczynski in his Unobomer Manifesto, which
was published jointly on September 19, 1995, by The New York Times and The
Washington Post:

They will see to it that everyone's physical needs are satisfied, that
all children are raised under psychologically hygienic conditions, that
everyone has a wholesome hobby to keep him busy, and that anyone who may
become dissatisfied undergoes "treatment" to cure his "problem."
Of course, life will be so purposeless that people will have to be biologically
or psychologically engineered either to remove their need for the power
process or make them "sublimate" their drive for power into some
harmless hobby. These engineered human beings may be happy in such a society,
but they will most certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to
the status of domestic animals (Kaczynski, 1995).

Who are they? Joy proceeds to describe the centralized power structure
and it's hunger for profit and science, in the religious sense, that is
driving us to an uncertain future. He sees this movement as unchecked by
even the most casual of conversations or inquiries because most people are
unwilling to engage each other, and their community in a meaningful way.
Again, those in power may be motivated by the best of intentions, to provide
"happiness," but what are the unintended, or even maliciously
intended consequences? Joy quotes Thoreau as saying, "We do not ride
on the railroad; it rides upon us (Joy, p. 9)."

At the other end of the philosophical spectrum is Thich Nhat Hanh, a
Vietnamese Buddhist monk. He contends that to change the world a person
must manifest their actions on an individual basis, in their community.
The goal that Thich Nhat Hanh aspires to is love, in the sense of harmony,
compassion, and human understanding. In order to create a loving world "...we
have to go back to our community and renew it (Hooks, 2000)." He goes
on to conclude that "Anything you do for yourself you do for the society
at the same time. And anything you do for society you do for yourself also."

Given these varied perceptions of community it is difficult to find one
cohesive point of focus. In a way, that is the rub. For each community is
motivated by preservation, protection, and propagation. The attributes to
be saved, guarded, and developed are different for each group of people.
To micro manage the smallest aspects of several communities for the sake
of preserving a single private motivation leads to irrelevance. To ignore
threats to greater society and shirk the duty of protection endangers all
the component communities. To inspire communities to envision and then create
their own destiny allows their further propagation far into the future.

The Great Law of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy states that "In
every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation."
This philosophy truly increases the proliferation of one's community into
the future. When this idea is manifested then individuals no longer work
for self gain, but rather the gain of their children. Not only that, but
because we can not see the exact future then our children's lives may become
inexorably tied to the future of our neighbor's children. Therefore, our
actions need to benefit the whole community so that all our great, great,
great, great, great grandchildren will have a beautiful world to live in.

The African proverb, "It take a village to raise a child" also
speaks to sustaining communities by benefiting children (Clinton, 1996).
It is not simply the parents who socialize and educate children, nor is
it the sole responsibility of the schools and teachers. Rather, children
develop and learn based on their interactions with everyone they meet. Obviously
those who have more contact have more impact, but the impact can also be
felt from collateral and unintended actions. If a mortal crime is committed
against a parent then there is a collateral effect on the child's physical,
emotional, and mental health. If an industry pollutes the water to save
clean-up costs there may be an unintended effect on the health of the children
who drink it. When a neighbor challenges a child on destructive behavior,
and is supported by the parents, their action is primarily directed at helping
that child learn universal respect and responsibility. When a shop keeper
takes time to apprentice teenagers on proprietorship then she intends to
help build the next generation of business owners.

As members of a community our actions have both primary and collateral
influences as well as intended and unintended consequences. In almost everything
we do there is an influence and a consequence on a child. In that respect,
the burden to socialize and educate children does not lie solely with parents
and teachers, but with everyone in a community.

The Latin term "In Loco Parentis" means "in place of a
parent (Webster's Dictionary, 1975)." Teachers are commonly held legally
responsible for the well being of children, and therefore in loco parentis.
To another degree, contractually obligated functions like scout leader or
soccer coach are also legally in loco parentis. To extend the concepts of
"the seventh generation" and "it takes a village to raise
a child" the obvious conclusion is that everyone is in some way, at
sometime throughout any given day, morally in loco parentis. This does not
necessarily hold legal obligations, but it does hold an ethical duty. It
is through this social contract that we owe our resources to the community,
to the children, and only then can we expect benefits in return to the individual.

This paper will examine how contemporary communities operate in relation
to their children. The author will explore the positive influences and consequences
of community action, as opposed to criticizing the motivations of others,
for any impetus to encourage community communication and facilitate community
collaboration is a constructive endeavor. Influences will be categorized
as primary and collateral. Primary influences are those directed specifically
at children and collateral intentions are those directed at other members
of society, but have an impact on children. Consequences will also be divided
into two self explanatory categories: intended and unintended.

The two primary influences explored will be community and society. Community
are the people who have consistent and substantial interactions with each
other. Most people in cities and small towns belong to several communities:
work, school, religious, recreational, etc. In some sparsely populated rural
areas there may only be one community to which everyone belongs. Society
is the broader collection of many communities: the city, the state, the
country. When members of society take action it can be in the form of an
individual, organization, or agency.

Community development usually takes on two forms: conscious development
and social change (International encyclopedia of the social sciences, 1968).
These can manifest materially, such as a new community center, or nonmaterial,
such as developing an appreciation for the arts. Many community development
projects intended for children focus on youth with economic, emotional,
or physical difficulties: those at-risk (Bankston, 1999, p. 297). There
are many factors that contribute to these difficulties including loss of
family, separation from divorce, and isolation because of differences. There
is no way to thoroughly resolve all hindrances, nor, arguably, should we.
Still, compassion and the social contract compel us to alleviate the suffering
around us.

In some cases their are statistics to evaluate the effectiveness of a
community of societal action. These statistics are based around quantifiable
measures such as crime rates, test scores, or school attendance. Many of
the examples that follow were not meant to address one particular problem,
but rather cultivate community cohesion. While there may be tendencies towards
a positive affect, it would take a greater exploration to find the measurable
causal relationships.

Societal Projects

This author defines society to be people outside of a specific community
that do not have consistent and substantial interactions with members of
the community. Societal organizations fall into three categories: governmental,
for-profit, and non-profit. Governmental organizations are those that have
their decision making and organizational members outside of the intended
community. This could include city initiated programs without community
input, but more likely refers to state and federal agencies. Likewise the
for-profit and non-profit organizations are classified as societal if their
decision making members reside outside of the intended community. The following
organizations have children, or children and their communities, as their
primary concern.

Governmental

Some of the more successful government programs are those which direct
large amounts of capital to locally operated agencies. One example of this
is the Community Development Block Grant, CDBG. The grants have been administered
by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, since 1974.
Block grants are awarded through the Small Cities program to locations who
comply with the primary objective: "Decent housing, suitable living
environment, and economic opportunities for persons of low and moderate
income; community development activities which may be supported by Federal
assistance (Community Development Block Grants, 1999)." Activities
are tailored to some specific objectives such as benefit to low and moderate
income families, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight,
the expansion and improvement of the quantity and quality of community services,
and the reduction of the isolation of income groups within communities.
The recipient cities have a certain degree of discretion in awarding funding
to projects. In the city of Ft. Collins, Colorado, there is a CDBG commission
which reviews applications and passes its recommendations on to the city
council for approval (Ft. Collins CDBG, 2000). Ft. Collins receives over
$1 million annually and pursues four basic categories of work: a) acquisition
of land and buildings for affordable housing, b) public facilities, c) public
service contracts, and d) planning activities.

These are some specific projects funded by the Ft. Collins' CDBG: (a)
$45,826 awarded to the Child Care Collaborative for the purpose of Sibling
Scale Tuition Assistance, (b) $20,000 awarded to Healthy Start, Inc. for
for the purpose of Medical and Dental Care, and (c) $16,000 awarded to Disabled
Resources Inc. for for the purpose of a Supported Youth Employment Program.

The primary objective of the CDBG is clear: to help communities and people
of low and moderate income. Because children do not make the actual applications
for assistance many of the projects affect them collaterally, such as storm
drains at a safe house or a repack area at a food distribution center. The
health and growth of communities and their members is the obvious intention
of the CDBG. While many of these projects go under acknowledged the impact
on the lives of children is clear.

For-Profit

There are businesses throughout the country that provide educational
and entertainment services to children, families, schools, and communities.
Many people in business provide programs and activities that are intended
to entertain such as Disney and Pokeman. This is not to admonish their efforts,
but to distinguish them from for-profit business that provide primarily
educational and empowerment programs. Some of these businesses are sole
proprietorships; individuals who present programs, workshops, and speeches
for a living. Each of these people have a unique talent or perspective to
share.

Peggy O'Neil-Laise presents workshops and assemblies for school children
throughout the country. She stands three-feet eight-inches tall, "a
little person," and uses this unique life perspective to address issues
of diversity, difficulty, and dignity (P. O'Neil-Laise, personal communication,
Fall, 1999). O'Neil-Laise is a practicing psychotherapist and uses this
background to help provide both the outlook and skills that can help children
navigate social challenges. In a promotional flyer she lists four benefits
that are passed on to students: (a) "Increased social awareness concerning
the feelings of others; (b) Increased capacity to be accepting toward those
who are different; (c) Skills in handling difficulties and harsh emotions;
(d) Skills in finding confidence in themselves." These ideas are shared
through role playing games where children act out positive and negative
behaviors, classic stories with a moral, personal inspirational anecdotes,
and humor.

O'Neil-Laise primarily influences children. Her intention is to give
awareness and abilities to children regarding social conflict. The unintended
consequence is the strengthening of these children's communities brought
about by their increased communication and cooperation skills.

Non-Profit

Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, BBBSA, is a national non-profit
mentoring organization that has been matching volunteer adult mentors with
children since 1904 (Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, 2000). The primary
commitment of the volunteers is to be available as listeners and companions
for children of varying ages. Many of their traditional match activities
occur outside of school time like "playing sports, seeing movies, cooking,
going over schoolwork, visiting museums, washing the car, taking walks,
volunteering in their communities, or just hanging out."

BBBSA also provides a School-Based Mentoring Program which takes place
an hour and a half a week, either during or just after school (J. Davis,
personal communication, April 6, 2000). The primary stated goal of this
program is to improve the literacy skills of participating children. There
are currently 8 participating schools in Denver and Aurora, Colorado, with
300 matches of volunteers and students. The children's levels range from
2nd-5th grade. Volunteers are trained to teach reading to students "falling
behind a bit," as well as how to interact and what to expect from students
at-risk from emotionally delicate family situations. Most of these volunteers
are recruited from "adopted" corporations. The teacher liaison
and BBBSA administrators work together to match individuals. The BBBSA case
manager maintains an overview of the match for the school year by helping
with difficulties and coordinating logistical issues. The local BBBSA chapter
is also responsible for marketing and development. The national parent organization
establishes parameters and guidelines for the program and performs research
to monitor the effectiveness. In the Denver/Aurora program 78% of students
showed a better attitude toward school and 90% had improvement in academics.
The true demonstration of this program's power comes from the personal contacts
between mentors and children. Jim Davis said, "It is amazing to see
a child with a huge smile on their face for five minutes after the mentor
has said "good job." This program is even more effective because
most of the volunteers live in the community where they mentor. Volunteers
progressively show greater interest in their match by participating in activities
like parent/teacher conferences and book fairs. Mentors feel such a sense
of connection and accomplishment that they return to the program at a rate
of 78% every year. At one school the liaison teacher and the volunteers
go out to dinner one night a month after the tutoring session. The School-Based
Mentoring Program has shown such significant growth that there are plans
to merge with General Colin Powel's program America's Promise, and thereby
expand the Denver program to over 50 schools and 5,000 students.

Children are unequivocally the primary motivation of BBBSA. The intended
outcome of their program is to improve literacy, but the unintended consequence
is an ever strengthening community. A community where corporations encourage
their employees to become involved, the employees become threaded into the
school and the lives of the children, and the children believe that someone
really cares about their spirit and future.

Community Projects

Community members are those that have consistent and substantial interactions
with each other. The following activities or organizations have their decision
making members as residents in the intended community. These also include
governmental, for-profit, and non-profit entities.

Governmental

Parks and recreation departments are local government entities that operate
throughout most cities in the USA. While parks and recreation departments
receive funding from city, county, state, or even federal funds many of
their administrators maintain a large degree of self determination. This
is true in the city and county of Denver, Colorado. There are 25 recreation
centers each with its own characteristics of facilities, programs, and staffing,
but all receiving money from the city and county general fund. The Harvard
Gulch Center is in South Central Denver and serves a population of around
2000 people (D. Bruning, personal communication, April, 4, 2000). The staff
at Harvard Gulch maintain and supervise a variety of activities including
arts and crafts, a weight room, and adult sports leagues. They also administer
several youth sports teams including flag football, pee wee soccer, basketball,
and summer baseball/softball. The basketball and baseball/softball teams
comprise the bulk of their youth participants with around 300 people in
each sport. The ages for these team members range from 5-14 years old. Harvard
Gulch administrators align with other recreation center coaches and supervisors
to form leagues for inter-community play.

Coaches throughout the recreation center program belong to the National
Youth Sports Coaches' Association. The association provides training, materials,
and insurance coverage for participating coaches. The initial training lasts
about four hours and is paid by the recreation center. Subsequent refresher
courses are paid by the coaches. They receive a journal as well as materials
such as those used to educate parents and participants. The association
publishes a code of ethics which Harvard Gulch parents, participants, and
coaches all sign. This helps establish and maintain the norms and expectations
for the community focus. To further solidify community ownership parents
volunteer to coach most of the teams from ages 5-10. Teams themselves act
as a communal focal point for parents and children before, during, and after
practices and games. These are times for varied and unstructured conversations
and connections. Many of the coaches socialize together diminishing the
animosity of competition and increasing the camaraderie of collaboration.

The primary goal of these youth recreation leagues is to provide healthy
interactions in and out of the community such as sportsmanship, teamwork,
and discipline. The consequence is a consolidated community maintained over
the years by consistent dedication to these programs.

For-Profit

There is a collection of small, decentralized groups that generally go
by the name Dances of Universal Peace (B. Heideman, personal communication,
March 31, 2000). Many of these local groups operate with little budget,
but do not formalize a non-profit status. They are, therefore, mostly classified
as a for-profit venture. There are dance leaders who sponsor gatherings
across the USA, and internationally, with varying degrees of frequency.
At these gatherings there is a core group of presenters who perform on diverse
musical instruments. Depending on the group, there may be from 10 to 50
dancers present. The participants sing and move around a circle in accordance
with various folk and religious songs and dances. The dance group has an
open attendance and is often made up of families with children. Because
of the inviting and nurturing quality of the gatherings, children are supported
and encouraged despite the difficulty of any one movement or song. The sponsor,
or leader of the gathering will direct the overall flow of the event. She
will decide upon the songs and dances, will provide various invocations,
and teach the words and movements. The organizational aspects differ widely
with each presenter. Some leaders will charge a fee for entrance with which
they pay for the space rental and musicians, and may then keep the net for
profit. Other leaders ask for donations to recuperate overhead costs or
even develop scholarship funds for camps and retreats. To be a certified
leader, one must be a member of an umbrella organization called Peace Works.
Peace Works provides training and inspirational camps with varying frequency.
They also publish to sell books with dances and songs. While half of a leader's
repertoire may come from these resources, the rest come from other leaders,
personal experiences, and ongoing research. If a leader uses the Peace Works
logo in their advertising they are asked to tithe to the organization.

The participants of a gathering are quite diverse in their intentions
and characteristics. Some attend consistently to the point where they establish
the event as a community focal point. Bernie Heideman, a leader in Western
Colorado, regularly draws upon a group of 40-50 people with an average attendance
of 20-30. Of those, only a handful are first timers or from out of the area.
Many of his core group socialize together outside of the official gathering.
Some who attend are simply interested in the entertainment of participation.
Others use it as a regular opportunity to commune with their friends. There
are also some people who look to the gathering for either healing or spiritual
transformation. Because of the eclectic blend of influence there may be
ceremonial dances and songs from such traditions as Hebrew, American Indian,
and Sufi. The Dances of Universal Peace have a collateral influence on the
children and families of their community. While children and families benefit,
the gathering is not directed primarily at them. The intention of community
building is quite successful.

Non-Profit

The Arapahoe Philharmonic Youth Orchestra is based in Englewood, Colorado
(Nan Kortz, personal communication, April 6, 2000). They are a non-profit
organization and an offshoot of the Arapahoe Philharmonic. There are over
one hundred student members between the ages of 11-18. The students must
belong to an organized school music program to participate in the orchestra.
They rehearse once a week from September through May. 65% of the group resides
in Arapahoe County and the remainder come from the neighboring Denver Metro
area. There are four concerts performed each year to an audience of over
300 people. The audience consists of primarily the parents and family members
of the performers, but the concerts are advertised to the greater adult
orchestra audience. The concerts and rehearsals of the youth orchestra take
place at Smokey Hill High School in Arapahoe County. The adult orchestra
performs and rehearses at the Orchard Road Christian Center. There has been
an effort to consolidate these two groups at the same location, but most
facilities in the Denver area designed for large groups are booked as much
as a year and a half in advance. The youth orchestra administrators are
trying to build a second orchestra; unfortunately this issue of space may
force the second group to rehearse and perform in the community of Arvada,
over twenty miles away.

The organization and administration of the youth orchestra is primarily
directed by the parents of the participants. While the organization is non-profit,
most funding comes from student tuition but also receives support from grants
and fund raisers. These fund raisers range from sideline sales (e.g. tee
shirts, lanyards, pins, etc.) to cabaret style dinner performances. The
administrative aspects are very organized and well maintained through committee
delegation and a deep supply of volunteerism. The strength of these parent
volunteers is based on their "commitment to the cause:" music
education. There are three main salary positions: (a) conductor, (b) educational
director, and (c) assistant to the director. The primary influence of the
administrators and volunteers in the Arapahoe Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
is on the youth of their community. They powerfully succeed at their intention:
to provide music education and performance opportunities for young people.

Conclusion

There are many people across the USA who actively participate in the
interests of society. They work hard to save valuable human and cultural
assets to be handed down to future generations. They protect not just the
property, but more importantly the people of communities from harm and suffering.
They establish opportunities for communities, family, and their children
to grow and build a bright and happy future.

These committed perseverent people are found in the governments, businesses,
and organizations of both our greater society, and our familiar communities.
In truth, it is not the organizational structures, nor the financial resources
that empower and strengthen communities. It is the individual passions,
skills, and commitments of the people in action that make the difference.
These people live the social contract. Whether or not they have consciously
and philosophically devoted themselves to selfless work is not the issue.
It is that their hearts compel them to service.

To initiate this synergistic community action, focused on our posterity,
we need to begin where the children live and grow. In early childhood this
often happens in the home, although less frequently in recent years. This
intent can be seen in the Community Development Block Grant when monetary
support is provided for decent housing. During the initial school years
children begin to blossom as learners and benefit greatly from the academic
and social lessons that come from Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America,
and Peggy O'Neil-Laise. As young adults mature they begin to find inspirations
that are relevant to their interests; and it is through their interests
that community-minded adults can still make constructive contacts. The recreational
sports leagues at Harvard Gultch and the artistic opportunities at the Arapahoe
Philharmonic Youth Orchestra are relevant, positive influences. Still, children
learn primarily from how we act, not from what we say. When children see
adults socially interacting with joy and cohesion they learn how to act
in a like manner. This is the model of the Dances of Universal Peace.

The question then arises, "How can others be inspired to be so magnanimous
connected?" Never mind benevolence, "How can others be deterred
from destructiveness and separation?" There is a saying about those
who behave disrespectfully, "He acts as if he has no family."
Maybe by creating a universal family can we build stronger communities.
This must happen through individual contact, not by societal reprimands
and pontifications. By embracing each of those in our community with loving
kindness we can develop an environment which encourages, not dispirits;
which nurtures, not neglects; and which builds, not destroys.